Sunday, July 28, 2013

Sadie chooses the strangest places to sleep. We find her up on a blanket by the bookcase, tucked into an open suitcase, curled up on the top of a shoe box, stretched out on the dog bed.....anywhere that she decides makes a good sleeping spot. The other day we came into the kitchen and found her crammed into the small space between the toaster oven and the overhead kitchen cabinet. Her head is up against the fridge and, with no room left on the toaster oven, her tail hangs down.

Fortunately, we rarely use this toaster oven so she was perfectly safe. But I do worry about some of the places she chooses. When she falls asleep she won't hear anything happening around her...even the vibrations on the floor when we walk by are not enough to rouse her from a deep slumber. Usually the other cats do not bother her when she is asleep (a different story when she is awake!) and the dogs typically ignore her (except for Seumas and his sniffing habit) so we haven't had a problem yet.

Wednesday, July 24, 2013

Seumas (a fine Scottish name for a Shetland Sheepdog) joined our family last year when he was just over 8 weeks old. We knew Girly's remaining time with us would be numbered in months rather than years and we wanted to have a little pup who would be a reminder of our beloved old gal. We have never had a young pup before since our dogs have come to us after they have spent their puppyhood with owners who later decided that they were not going to take care of these sweet dogs the way they should be looked after (some people don't deserve the privilege of owning pets - enough said).

Within the first week Seumas had a taste of where he placed in the hierarchy. Sadie climbed on top of his cage and acted as if the pup wasn't even there. Angel was already used to sharing the couch with Girly so hardly missed a beat when Seumas was placed at the end of the couch. After a wary look at each other, they both settled in and fell asleep, oblivious to anything around them.

Seumas quickly learned how to climb up on the back of the couch (better to see everything and everyone around him!) and he is the only dog in the family to show any interest in this - usually this is the cats' domain. Although in this case it was probably my food that caught his interest. And being a typical pup, the couch was also a prime sleeping spot. In fact I am just looking across the living room and I can see a much larger Seumas stretched out on the couch, with his head on one of my good feather cushions. He, like Girly and Angel, knows that it is important to keep me company in the living room, when I am the only human down here late into the evening.

Tuesday, July 23, 2013

Seumas, still called "the pup" even though he is 15 months old now, has a bad habit of sniffing cats. He follows them around the house, sniffing at nether regions. He goes up to them when they are sitting on the coffee table and sniffs their faces. Angel is usually quite patient but even he is starting to draw the line at this habit. Seumus was going in for a close up view of Angel and was sticking his nose right in front of Angel's mouth. Bad move! Angel had enough at this point and opened his mouth, ready to sink those sharp little cat teeth into a soft tender dog nose. Fortunately Seumas realized what Angel's intent was and beat a hasty retreat!

Sunday, July 14, 2013

Girly, who was our one dog who would willingly share a couch with three of our cats, has lost her battle with increasing age and other ailments. We knew she was already an older dog when she joined our household and we were concerned that she would find it difficult to fit in with our cats only household. But she quickly found her way in the daily routine and became just one more four footed furry in the household. Yes, she did find it difficult to get along with Sebastian...but those interactions were limited to growling (Girly) and hissing (Sebastian).

Girly has been in a decline these past few months, even getting to the point she would only give a half-hearted woof when Sebastian would go by. With heavy hearts, we finally had to say goodbye to her on Thursday. She spent her last few hours in the outdoors, sniffing gently at the air and hearing us tell her how much we loved her.

Life goes on ... but she has taken a big piece of our hearts with her. :-(